Thursday, January 19, 2017

Adventures in Blu-ray: Wagon Tracks (1919)

After appearing on stage for many years as a respected
actor, William S. Hart made his debut “in the flickers” playing Messala in a
1907 production of Ben-Hur. This is not, however, what cemented Hart’s
cinematic immortality; beginning in 1914, Bill began appearing in two-reel
westerns (which later expanded to feature film length when the shorts proved
quite popular) for producer Thomas H. Ince.
The market for oaters was pretty much glutted at that time, yet Hart
stood out from his cowboy movie brethren and inarguably became one of the first
major sagebrush stars in the movies.
Hart made over seventy films between 1914 and 1926; not only as an actor
but also a screenwriter, director, and producer. His movie legacy includes such classics as Hell’s Hinges (1916), The Return ofDraw Egan (1916), The Toll
Gate (1920), and Tumbleweeds
(1926—his final starring film).

In Wagon Tracks
(1919), Bill plays “Buckskin” Hamilton—a desert guide who has traversed the
Santa Fe Trail to Westport Landing, MO.
Hamilton’s purpose for his journey is to meet up with his younger
brother Billy (Leo Pierson), who’s just graduated from medical school. Alas, poor Billy will never get the
opportunity to take the Hippocratic Oath…for he’s gotten involved in a riverboat
card game with crooked gambler Donald Washburn (Robert McKim)—a title card
informs us that Washburn had to beat a hasty retreat from St. Louis because of
his activities; he’s currently on his way to Santa Fe with his sister Jane
(Jane Novak) and her fiancé Guy Merton (future Warner’s director Lloyd Bacon)
at his side.

During the game, Billy discovers that Washburn is cheating…and
in a mutual exchange of temper, guns are drawn.
Jane steps in to stop things from escalating, but it appears that in her
struggle for Billy’s gun she shoots and kills him. In explaining the incident to the ship’s captain
(Charles Arling), Washburn spins a yarn that Jane was forced to gun Billy down
after the young man’s intentions proved less than honorable…and conveniently
leaves out the part about him trying to rook Hamilton in poker.

Buckskin is devastated by the death of his brother. He tells Jane that while he believes it was
an accident, he’s convinced there’s more to the story than she’s telling. Buckskin will get the opportunity to exact a
little frontier justice (with the help of a band of Kiowas) when he agrees to
head up the wagon train on which Merton and the Washburns are traveling…because
during that trek to Santa Fe, Jane eventually reveals the truth.

A morality play set against the background of the “go west,
young man” trek in the mid-1800s (the time frame is 1850, shortly after the
California gold rush), Wagon Tracks
showcases William S. Hart at his Western finest. The film was praised effusively by film
critics at the time of its release, none more so than the Los Angeles Times: “The great desert screen epic is with us at
last. It has been done by William S.
Hart and C. Gardner Sullivan, with the aid of a fine cast and superlative
photography…” The reviewer went on to
call Sullivan’s screenplay “a masterpiece.”
A little closer to home, the Atlanta
Constitution (this is years before it merged with The Atlanta Journal) gushed “No one who sees this picture will soon
forget it. It will be a vivid memory for
months afterward.”

Maybe it was a slow week at the neighborhood cinema when
these critics sat down with an overpriced box of popcorn and cup of soda…but Wagon Tracks is a little overpraised. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m
down on the film, however; it is very much worth the time to sit down with it,
because the performances and photography are first-rate. Bill Hart had a very impressive background as
a Shakespearean actor, and he is most effective throughout Wagon Tracks—particularly the scene in which he grieves over the
loss of his brother. The movie’s plot
also features a nice twist that I will not reveal for those who have not seen
it. Tracks
was directed by Lambert Hillyer, an accomplished journeyman whose talent for
B-westerns has been discussed previously here on the blog (Gun
Law Justice).

Wagon Tracks is important
because coming January 24 (this Tuesday), it will be the first of Hart’s films to receive treatment
on Blu-ray. In a press release from
Olive Films, Alex Kopecky observes: “William S. Hart was an iconic performer,
and it’s hard to believe that he has been missing from Blu-ray collections
until now.” The movie, due to its public
domain status, has been available on YouTube and DVD (Grapevine Video, Sinister
Cinema, etc.) for several years…but the Olive Films release is the one you
definitely have to purchase. Mastered
for home video from an original 35mm nitrate print courtesy of the Library of
Congress, this version of Wagon Tracks
is positively breathtaking. (I was very
impressed by the film’s tinting—particularly those scenes illuminated by
campfires, where the movie is bathed in an orange glow—and the original score
composed by Andrew Earle Simpson.)

When William S. Hart passed on in 1946, he designated in his
will that his 265-acre ranch be transformed into a public park and museum. “When I was making pictures, the people gave
me their nickels, dimes and quarters,” he stated. “When I am gone, I want them to have my home.” Hart not only gave us his home, he left
behind a rich legacy steeped in the genre we know as the movie Western, and Wagon Tracks is an excellent example of
what made “Two-Gun Bill” a solid audience favorite. (Generous thanks to Olive Films’ Bradley
Powell for providing Thrilling Days of
Yesteryear with this wonderful screener.)